The present invention relates generally to video playback, and more particularly to a system and interface for navigating recorded digital video.
Video surveillance systems commonly include one or more video capture sources such as digital video cameras. Video from these sources is recorded and stored by digital recorders. Video from each source may be recorded by a plurality of recorders, and different recorders may utilize different video codecs, sampling ranges, or resolutions. Some recorders may only record video at particular times, or may store information for longer or shorter time periods. In addition, some recordings may be triggered by or associated with events such as alarm activations, personnel entry into or exit from monitored areas, or motion detections. A user interested in viewing video from a particular time and source will not necessarily know what video is available, either from a particular recorder, or from a collection of available recorders (e.g. recorders available over a network). Gathering this information on an as-requested basis can be time consuming, particularly when traffic at a particular recorder is high.